Port-au-Prince - Haiti's president-elect Michel Martelly called for an independent probe on Thursday into alleged fraud by the outgoing leader's ruling party in legislative elections.
“The results of the presidential elections matched the people's will. But the results in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate seem wrong. It seems the people's vote was not respected, because the people protested everywhere,” Martelly said in a speech broadcast on Facebook and local radio.
“There were at least 17 lawmakers who were in first place (according to preliminary results released two weeks ago) and are now said to have lost, 17 lawmakers who should have won and did not,” he added.
Martelly, who implicitly blamed outgoing President Rene Preval's Unity Party and urged him to refrain from ratifying results provided by the Provisional Electoral Council until the investigation was complete, said he was seeking “independent verification that the people's vote was respected”. - Sapa-AFP